First, Second and Third Worlds

 Global North & Global South

 “North-South divide” or “the gap between North and South”
 First World
- United States, Western Europe, Japan and Australia
- Cold War Era between United States of America and Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR)/Russia and China
 Second World
- Communist Soviet Union
 Third World
- French scholar Alfred Sauvy
- unstable political and economic conditions
- The Less Developed World, The Majority World, The Non-Western World, The Poor World and The
Undeveloped World
- Developing World
- previously categorized as part of the Third World
- Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea

People often use the terms first, second and third world to categorize different countries. To start off, there had already
been a distinction between the North and the South wherein it is believed that the developed countries are found in the
Northern hemisphere while the poor and developing countries are found in the Southern hemisphere thus the terms,
Global North and South. There had also been phrases used in UN circles by policymakers and practitioners such as the
“North-South divide” or “the gap between North and South”.

Further, there had been more categorization namely First, Second and Third World. The First World included the United
States and its capitalist allies such as Western Europe, Japan and Australia. It was influenced by the Cold War Era between
United States of America and Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR)/Russia and China.

The Second World consisted of the Communist Soviet Union and other states who employed Marxist principles. Lastly,
the Third World which is a term popularized by French scholar Alfred Sauvy. This refers to the states which have unstable
political and economic societies. These are the countries which were not aligned with either side during the Cold War.
Third World were often former European colonies such as Asia, Africa and Latin America. Today, the term First World are
now used to describe the countries with powerful economies while the Second World already became obsolete when the
Soviet Union collapsed. The Third World on the other hand became more of an umbrella term for developing countries.

Another term used is the “Developing World” which refers to the states that are previously categorized as part of the
Third World which managed to handle their economic realities when the Cold War era ended. A challenge for the
Developing World however is to ensure that the national development can be attained. An example of a Developing World
is Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea.